St. Jude’s Trail tiki huts completed

December 6, 2017

Last Thursday morning, members of the Calusa Land Trust, Pine Island Garden Club and Matlacha Hookers gathered at the new tiki huts at St. Jude's Trail. The tiki huts have been a work in progress for more than a year and were built by Southern Cross Tikis.

St. Jude Trail is a Calusa Land Trust preserve located at the end of Laratonda (which becomes Stabile Road) in St. James City. The Calusa Land Trust describes the preserve as "the jewel of the St. James Creek Preserve."

The trail begins in flatlands and winds through a mangrove forest and ending at a spectacular view of Matlacha Pass. Along the half-mile trail, visitors pass memorial benches. The benches, boardwalk and memorial overlook are all the brainchild of Norm Gowan and named in his honor.

The Matlacha Hookers donated money raised from a Seven Seas Bait and Tackle Barge Party in 2014. The Hookers spent the day on the water kayaking and paddle boarding to each boat for donations.

"In all the barge party and Matlacha Hookers raised more than $4,000," Hooker Madam Julia Simpson said. "Out of those funds, we donated $1,000 for these tiki huts."

"We also received a donation from The Pine Island Garden Club," CLT president John Kendall said.

The Calusa Land Trust is Pine Island's all-volunteer land conservancy with the purpose of protecting the natural diversity and beauty of the Pine Island region by acquiring, managing and preserving, in perpetuity, environmentally sensitive or historically important land and to foster appreciation for and understanding of the environment and our past.